Autumn Song
by R Friends Electric
Summary: The adventures of the daughter of River and The Doctor. It opens between the 2015 Christmas special and "The Library" episode when River Song "dies." This story was originally a script I wrote as a mini series. I would welcome any suggestions regarding my style or content.
1. Chapter 1

Temporal Location: 5036.243 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

The craft entered orbit taking a wide elliptical trajectory, bringing it up on the orbital base quickly. It's appearance causing a flurry of activity within the station itself. UNIT and Torchwood agents armed themselves and took up defensive positions in strategic locations around the important parts of the base. Retros fired on the ship and it nudged into a parallel position in space a kilometer from the station. A small shuttle dispatched from the ship and moved towards the nearest entry point.

Within the station, armed UNIT soldiers moved into the small anti-chamber inside the airlock. All the lights turned green and the military men took up a defensive stance. The door of the airlock slid into the recess built for it, revealing two vacuum suited figures, one black one white, they entered the anti-room slowly. The figures stood silently for a moment surveying the situation. The white suited figure, reached up and removed her helmet, revealing a wavy shock of strawberry hair, falling in ringlets around a beautiful, ageless face. Looking at the nervous guards, she beamed a huge, friendly smile; "Could one of you be a dear and ask Captain Harkness to receive us?"

The dark suited woman woman removed her helmet, her dark hair dropping back between her shoulder blades, her cherubic face looking out of the dark waterfall. The guards relaxed, neither woman appeared to be a threat. The squad leader dispatched one of the soldiers further into the base, while they waited in the standoff. A sudden jerky alert rippled through the squad as the tall, red haired woman closed the airlock door.

Jack Harkness listened to the soldier, quietly, elbows on his desk, hands together as if in prayer, index fingers touching his lips. As the private finished his report, Jack smiled and jumped up, "OK, lets go receive our guests." Minutes later, he was face to face with his visitors. Staring across the room at each other sternly, they could not hold the stoic face for long, He smiled at the redhead.

"Hello, cutie."

Back in his office, River Song faced the immortal, "I need your help," she simply said, "I have to go somewhere dangerous, I need to make contingencies in case I don't return." He looked past her into the control room of the station, where the other woman stood discussing something with one of the technicians.

"Her?" River nodded, "Who is she?"

"HIS daughter," she registered the look of surprise on his face, "Our daughter, Autumn. He doesn't know, and I don't want him to know." She suddenly looked old and tired, suddenly, almost as if she had a breath of something evil at her back. Jack listened silently, River placed an old doctor's bag on the table. "This is her legacy, I want her to have this, but not till I leave. Please." He nodded.

"Anything." He simply replied. "How long will you be staying?"

"Hours. I have to be leaving when we get the last member of the exploratory team. Our employer insists that we deploy immediately."

"Where are you going?"

"The Lux Library."

"That's a death sentence. Nobody has landed on that planet and returned for over 100 years."

"Playing it safe was never my thing, didn't he ever tell you that?" She smiled at him but it had no humor in it.

The girl was leaning over the female technician, "... And varying the modulation of the shield harmonic profile will turn the detection grid into a repulser net."

"Autumn?" Autumn Song did not react to her mother being absorbed in the technical discussion she was having with the Torchwood scientist, "Amelia Martha Pond," she said raising her voice a little, the girl stiffened, "I am going now."

She turned flushed, "Mother," she pouted, "You know I don't like that name!"

"It's the name you were given, your grandmother's name."

"Yes, I know I was Christened with my family name, but you know I use Autumn Song, THAT is my heritage, Melody." She gave a sly, playful smile. River was amused by the shared riposte. River turned to the waiting Captain, "This is your Uncle Jack Jack, meet Autumn, my daughter." She offered her hand and Harkness shook it.

After an emotional farewell and a short shuttle flight, Autumn watched the Lux cruiser depart Earth space from the observation level of the Torchwood 1 station. As the ship reached the minimum jump distance from planet and station, it erupted in a celestial blue flash and silver line to the limit of vision, then nothing. She turned, then, to Jack Harkness, "Uncle Jack, will she be OK"

"She will be exactly where she needs to be, as always, and if she is in danger at all..." He smiled, "Your father always seems to appear." The confidence he showed, but did not feel, seemed to placate the girl. They walked back into the depths of the station in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

Temporal Location: 5036.245 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

Wearing a UNIT uniform with the insignia identifying her as a lieutenant, Autumn Song sat at a console monitoring the detection grid and her new modifications, making final checks before ordering the operation of a transit beam aimed at the surface. "Song to Icarus. Final checks complete, prepare to transmit."

20,000 Kilometers into deep space the Icarus, a reverse engineered Xeraphin space ship readied their teleport system to try to pierce Earths new shield. "Icarus to Song, Lieutenant, we are ready here." The engineering officer supervising the experiment indicated his technicians to set up the transit beam, one initializing the control panel, while two others carried a heavy cylinder onto the teleport platform.

"Wait," the female voice surprised the men, "Stop the experiment, we have a problem." They turned to see a female UNIT officer dressed in a pressure suit. She swept gracefully into the middle of the room, Her Torchwood ID Tag read "Autumn Song"

"Icarus to Torchwood 1, Experiment on hold."

"On who's authority?" Autumn demanded.

"Er... Yours, Ma'am." He said hesitantly.

"What?"

"I am supposed to give you a message, 'Please check the calibration of the feedback module.' "

"Copy, Icarus, please stand by." Confused, Autumn entered the information to the console that enabled her to interrogate the module. Scrolling through the specifications, she discovered the problem. Whoever calibrated the module set the feedback charge a tenth order of magnitude above her specifications. "Song to Icarus, stand down. We are suspending the procedure pending repairs."

Turning from the com board, "We are on..." The woman had already left. "Chief Roberts to bridge, Captain, has our guest left yet?"

"Chief, please repeat, a guest?"

"Yes sir, Lieutenant Song, she was here earlier."

"Chief, this ship has been on lock-down, has been for the last 48 hours. Nobody on or off." That was the moment Andrew Roberts realized the conversation he was having. He decided not to pursue the matter any further, he liked his space privileges.

Having traveled with her mother on occasion, Autumn Song was no stranger to temporal paradox, so took it more in her stride than others. She knew that at some time in her "past" the experiment went horribly wrong and probably destroyed the detection grid and a significant part of the star destroyer Icarus. However, how she got onto Icarus, that part of the puzzle was still missing.

Temporal Location: 5036.249 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

After striping down the repulser unit and working on the feedback module for 2 days, taking another day to rebuild and test the unit, they were ready. Autumn asked her uncle for permission to take the grid offline to reintegrate it into the system. Nine hours later she is ready to retest the new system. With Icarus back on station, they wait with bated breath. System booted, and no reappearance of her future self, she gives permission to activate the teleporter.

Ten relays blew in the Icarus engine room, smoke issued from the vents in the transit suite, as the extractors engaged and the smoke cleared. They discovered a piece of twisted metal, where a pristine cylinder once stood.


	3. Chapter 3

Temporal Location: 5036.253 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

Waking up stiff, having subjecting herself to an extreme workout the night before, Autumn slowly eased herself out of her bed. Her Com-pad bleeped, she had a waiting message, picking up the device she touched the flashing icon on the screen. It was Jack Harkness, "Good morning," the face beamed at her from the screen, "How would you like to meet the president of the Colonial Earth Federation?" She listened to the rest of the message then quickly dressed, and headed up to the command deck. The first thing she noticed was Jack dressed in an antique, formal Royal Air Force uniform, bearing the patches of an air marshal. "Good morning, are you ready for an adventure? We are expected, so lets get on our way."

He beckoned her to follow him as he headed towards the elevator. The doors closed and he pressed the -5 button, as all decks were measured from the central command deck she knew they were heading "down" the station, towards the planet below. Autumn had never been in this part of the station. The doors opened after a few seconds, revealing a teleport station. The private standing at the controls snapped to attention as the lift doors opened. After a quick discussion about coordinates, The two officers stepped onto the transit pad.

What seemed like a moment passed, they were standing on the grass outside the presidential mansion. She felt a knot in her stomach and a tightness around her head. She forced herself not to stumble. Jack strode across the gravel driveway to the front door, follower closely by Autumn, and knocked.

They were ushered into an office by an austere, sour-faced employee. Waiting in the bookcase lined teak study, they both took a moment to browse the titles adorning the walls. When the most powerful person in the Federation, Premier Gloria Tremblay, walked in, Autumn was reading a first edition of Wells' "The Time Machine" and Jack was staring aimlessly out of the window across the Caribbean Sea.

"Mr Harkness, thank you for coming on such short notice, and if I am not mistaken, Ms Song. Excuse me for getting right down to business, but Earth may have a problem." She placed a file on her desk and sat, indicating the Torchwood representatives to do the same. "We sent a representative to a planet called 'Daemon's Run' to negotiate a peace treaty with the inhabitants.

"He left on the Hera, our deep space exploration craft, a month ago. They made planet-fall ten days later, since their message on arrival, we have heard nothing. I would like your department to find out what happened to them.

"Your team will have the use of Hecate, Hera's sister ship, investigate, find our ship and if possible, come away with an amiable restitution. And just one more thing," she eyed him, "DO NOT start a war."

"Madam Premier," Jack chimed smiling, "I will be the epitome of tact." A twinkle in his eye, turned to a wink, much to the chagrin of the politician. They stood to leave, Jack turned and asked a question, "Do we know what race we are dealing with?"

"They call themselves The Order The Headless."


	4. Chapter 4

Temporal Location: 5036.253 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

Back on Torchwood 1, Jack takes Autumn back to his office, "Your mother wanted to give you this," he handed over the doctor's bag River gave to him, "She said that it will answer some of the questions you may have about her life." Puzzled by the cryptic message, she headed back to her cabin holding the bag.

Behind closed doors, sitting at her desk, she opened the bag and spread the contents in front of her. River's archaeological tools, including her sonic trowel, some sort of electronic vambrace and a letter.

Laying aside the other items, Autumn took up the letter, it was in her mother's flowing script, but in English, not one of the exotic languages she enjoyed using:

"Dearest Autumn,

"If you are reading this, I have not been heard from since beginning of my excavation and in all likelihood I have succumb to unforeseen circumstance. For your entire life I have been there for you, but now you have to move into the universe without me. My sincere wish for you is that you find special entities with which to take on your journey. You have one in your uncle Jack, he is a loyal friend and one of the few people your father relied on.

"Regarding your father, he does not know of you, but should you find yourself with him the world he opens up for you will be spectacular. If you do meet him, tell him he was loved.

"I have given you the key to a life of adventure within this bag, it was my passion. Find your own passion, my sweet, live life fully, do not let opportunities pass you by.

"All my love eternally,

"Melody."

She returned the archaeological tools back to the bag, reread the letter, tearfully, then turned her attention to the vambrace. Turning it over in her hands, she saw a leather flap covering a control panel. The display, menu driven, indicated it's use, teleportation. Strapping it to her wrist, she decided to try it. Knowing the layout of the base, she typed in an offset, that would place her in the commander's office. She activated the device.

Jack Harkness looked up from his desk to see Autumn Song standing in front of him, he was a little startled but not surprised – at least not as surprised as she thought he would be. "Hello again, Autumn." Opening the top drawer of his desk, he produced an identical armband to the one she was wearing. Placing it on his desk he asked her, "Do you know what this is?"

"A teleportation device." she answered with authority.

"No, it is a lot more than that." He smiled, "It is a time vortex manipulator, a time travel device."

"See, here..." He went on to explain the devices operation to her. After forty minutes, she understood the basic operation of the means to her new personal freedom.

The Hera had limited space, Jack Harkness and Autumn Song had to share one cabin, divided by a retractable canvas screen. Jack had decided that only he and Autumn would be the team to retrieve the diplomatic party from the surface. Side by side they unpacked their belongings for the 10 day trip. She had with her the bag and it's contents, all except the letter that was still in her room back on the space station. The last thing Harkness removed from his bag was his sidearm, his sonic blaster, she noticed the similarity between that and her sonic trowel. She asked for a closer look, taking it from the holster she turned it over in her hands examining it. She began to think, she had an idea.

She spent the next 10 days in engineering, she started by dismantling the her sonic trowel, downloading the software onto the ship's database, encrypting the file.


	5. Chapter 5

Temporal Location: 5036.264 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

The Hecate approached Demon's Run on a low insertion trajectory from the far side of the gas giant that held it in orbit, scanning ahead of her as she skated the edge of two gravity wells. Nothing appeared on the scanners on this side of the planetoid, she swung around to the far side settling in a Geo-stationary orbit above the great temple, the biggest settlement on this outpost. Jack and Autumn met in the small cargo bay, converted to a Shuttle bay holding 3 small landing craft. Jack wore his dress uniform with his sonic blaster as a sidearm, but Autumn chose her charcoal black pressure suit, she also wore a holster belt, devoid of the firearm, that held her new sonic toolkit. They both wore their Time Vortex Manipulators. Even though they could both fly the craft, they chose to take a pilot as a chauffeur. Jack tried not to think about what River would say, or worse, do to him, if she knew he was taking her daughter into this situation.

Theirs was not the only craft to leave the hold, a second shuttle was going to do an orbital survey looking for the Hera. The second shuttle took a high altitude, polar orbit to scan and map the entire celestial body, at all times broadcasting a standard Earth transponder signal, just in case the scout was on passive scan hiding for some reason.

Temporal Location: 5021.350 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Zeta 218-2 "Verconis"

The green skinned, Vervoid scientist finished final checks on the projectiles. They were the culmination of over a century of research and the key to colonizing the stars. He gave the signal and the missiles rose into the air, heading to their final destinations to spread the spores of a new civilization onto virgin worlds.

Temporal Location: 5036.264 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

The shuttle touched the ground so softly, the passengers did not even know they were down until the pilot left his seat to open the port-side hatch. As one they undid their safety harnesses and rose to leave, Jack told the pilot something as he left the small ship. They left the landing area, as the shuttle took off, surprised, Autumn looked back, but only once.

As they approached the Great Temple, a large gentleman with a distinctive blue hue to his skin met them, "Greetings, Friends. Well met, I am Dorium Maldovar, anything you need you may only ask."


	6. Chapter 6

Temporal Location: 5036.264 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

The survey shuttle crossed the southern pole of the astral body called "Demon's Run," as it did the officer at the operations station happened to glance out of the planet-side porthole. Something caught his eye, he blinked and then stared, there it was, silhouetted against the sun-kissed sand below it, The Hera. He motioned to the pilot and they changed course to rendezvous with the lost ship.

Planetside, Jack Harkness was playing politics, trying to get information about the earth diplomats. Autumn on the other hand was on a mission of discovery, exploring the nooks and crannies of the temple. Her interest was held for a while with the markets and public areas that grew around the main structure, but her palms were itching and she really needed to get the full experience that only getting into the inner sanctum would cure.

The pilot of the shuttle that left Autumn and Jack on the surface relayed the message from Jack to the Captain. The Captain gave orders to the bridge crew instructions to get ready to leave orbit. Then sent a recall to the survey shuttle, who responded on the appropriate frequency.

The survey team stood on the bridge of the Hera, whose Captain made ready and began manoeuvring; using his thrusters he took the ship out of the polar magnetic field.

Lieutenant Song, pretending to examine wares at a local vendor watched a couple of monks heading back to the temple, she had noticed them appear and disappear mystically and was now paying more attention to where they went. The monks walked up to the outer wall of the temple, as they neared the wall, it opened and swallowed to black robed figures. She moved to the point they passed through and examined the surface, no cracks or any indication of a doorway being present. Taking out her toolkit, she set it to scan and passed it over the surface if the building. Reading the bezel she saw the tool had detected a low energy electric field emitted from the entire surface.

Pausing for thought for a moment, doing calculations in her head, then she spun a small ball near the bezel, until the display read 227-B. Activating it, she passed it over the wall, it rotated frequency and amplitude until it hit a complimentary tone. The portal opened and with a final glance around she passed inside. In the darkness was only silence.

The Hecate had a ping on her scanners, much larger than they expected from a shuttle, turning the external video system to the area in space with the anomaly, they saw the Hera. The communications officer established a tight beam comlink with their sister ship. A short conversation later, the rescue ship was up to date with the entire situation. They knew anyone on the surface was in extreme danger.

Autumn Song moved further into the restricted areas of the temple, as her eyes adjusted, she began to make out more and more of her surroundings. She found another door and opened it, it was an elevator. She picked a random number and pressed it, the number 7.

Dorium Maldovar smiled at Jack Harkness, "Of course, we have knowledge of where the earth diplomat is, and yes he did come to an agreement with the Order of the Headless and made the appropriate contribution to the order. But you, Mr Harkness, you are not from Earth, yes?"


	7. Chapter 7

Temporal Location: 5036.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

The elevator doors opened to reveal a cloister made up of row upon row of shelves each shelf containing rows of animated skulls and decomposing heads. They all turned towards Autumn as the doors opened, she tentatively moved inside, the doors closed.

In the inner sanctum of the temple, an alarm sang out, the two stoic monks seemingly in the thrall of the mainframe turned and moved towards the disturbance. The sacred terminals around the temple called the faithful to duty.

Dorium Smiled at Jack Harkness but shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Is something wrong?" Jack asked. Dorium tried to regain his composure.

"No," his smile widened, "Absolutely nothing is wrong." A keening droning chant became audible outside the office. Jack stood and began to move to the door, Dorium stood to try to stop the immortal. Jack moved his hand towards his blaster, the envoy swallowed and looked from Jack to the weapon and back, he sank back into his seat and took up a meditative posture. He was not going to move. As Harkness left the room, Dorium picked up a communication device.

Toolkit out, scanning ahead of her, Autumn Song mapped out the mausoleum as she wandered the corridors, In a dark corner of the 7th Trancept, a voice called out, "You are from Earth," a statement, not a question. She looked around to find the source of the voice, a head, not more than a month or two old was looking at her. "Are you here looking for me?" She recognized him from the file she had read regarding this mission.

"We are here looking for you, what happened?"

"You really need to get out of here, the treaty is secure. Unfortunately this is the cost. Young lady, please get out while you still can."

"I can take you with me."

"Thank you," the head smiled at her, "But I think it is for the best I stay."

They became aware of a droning chant, it was getting louder, the ambassador's head looked distressed, "You really need to move, NOW." The elevator doors opened, the chanting became deafening. Autumn consulted the map in her toolkit and took a circuitous route avoiding the warrior monks and getting back to the elevator unscathed. She called the car, waited for 30 seconds that seemed forever, and as the door opened she entered and pressed the "1" button. The door closed as an energy blade sliced into the elevator, the thrust missed, then it withdrew as the car started to move.

While she had a few seconds to herself, she changed the grip on her toolkit, pinching the offset part of the tool, she pulled sharply out, it split from the body and locked into a position that could be used as a handle, she spun the wheel to reveal the number 999 in the display, the toolkit was now in blaster mode. The display went dim indicating the Metebelis crystal was at full charge.

Jack Harkness followed the sound to the top of the elevator shaft, seeing a semicircle of monks with their weapons at the ready, he moved closer. The chanting was deafening, he opened his time vortex manipulator and typed in a location. The doors began to slide open, he espied a black pressure suit and guessed who was there, pushing past the nearest monk he put himself between them and Autumn. He caught a movement to his left, instinctively he held up his arm. The sword cut into the case of his device, it damaged the circuitry, before the force-field activated and the auto-repair system began it's work, useless. Autumn used her blaster, the monk that hit Jack was blown off it's feet. Jack hit the close door button as he rolled into the elevator car.

Grabbing her hand he pulled her TVM to him, he typed in a location, or started to, the location came up by default, it was already in there. Hitting a few other controls he disabled the return function, He activated the vortex, Autumn vanished. A power sword entered the lift through the door and emerged through Jack's chest.

Temporal Location: 5036.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Proxima Centauri-7 "New Earth"

The newborn child took his first breath, then screamed, he had strong lungs. Outside the window the sun shone down on Boeshane City, the buildings glistening in the sun.


	8. Chapter 8

Temporal Location: 5036.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

Jack Harkness took a sharp intake of breath, as his life renewed and he began to live again. He realized after a moment he was being held upright by two monks, a third stood in front of him holding a box. It didn't take a genius, "Normally I wouldn't hesitate giving head to three muscular guys, but if it's all the same to you I'll pass." A fourth monk approached from behind, he swallowed, the perpetual smile left his face; he closed his eyes.

Temporal Location: 5036.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Zeta 218-2 "Verconis"

The Vervoid scientists gathered around the monitor observing the telemetry of their probe, they saw it deploy, they saw with excitement the spores separate from the missile and turn plantetward. It's mission complete, the missile would eventually enter the atmosphere and vaporize. The spores would float into the planet's influence and merge with any organic matter it can find and begin to create a new Vervoid colony.

Temporal Location: 5036.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Sigma 14-4 Unnamed

High in the upper atmosphere, the Vervoid spores drifted slowly down towards the land masses below. Instinctively tracking any signs of life, flying the stratospheric winds, hunting a place to grow.

Temporal Location: ? Physical Location: ?

Tumbling through the eddies and currents of the temporal ocean, dragged by the Time Vortex Manipulator, Autumn let go a scream of anguish and frustration. How could he do that, why would Jack eject her from the situation she could have helped him get out of. The raw emotion set waves into motion within the timeline; the disturbance did not go unnoticed.

Temporal Location: 5036.266 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Sigma 14-4 Unnamed

Autumn Song appeared 3 feet above the ground on the main land mass, still crouched aiming her sonic blaster, pitched forward and connected her head with a rock, rendering herself unconscious. As she lay on the grass of a large plain, beside the only exposed rock for miles, three small seed like spores settled on her abdomen and, passing through her pressure suit, were absorbed into her body.

Temporal Location: ? Physical Location: ?

The creature's consciousness spanned all of time and space, but a needle prick of emotion where nothing should exist drew her focus. Expanding the moment to encompass her entire being, she was drawn to that moment, stationary in time, but spanning five galaxies in an arrow fine trajectory. Her curiosity was aroused. Following the line to it's source, she saw the life of Autumn, from her birth to the activation of her time device in a moment, disjointed in time and space. Although the man she was with was far more interesting, that creature described a circle in time, the moment of his beginning and end linked like an anchor in the universe, All that was and will be spinning around this one being.

Temporal Location: 5036.266 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Sigma 14-4 Unnamed

Autumn awoke in darkness, the light of the stars was the only illumination; it was cold, very cold. She had a headache and a lump on the side of her head. She moved and the pain spiked, causing her to feel sick and dizzy. She lay back, wishing she had the environmental unit for her suit. She touched something hard, grasping it, she felt the familiar curves of her sonic tool. She held it to her face, closing the grip back into the case, she dialed in the appropriate function. Activating the device illuminated her surroundings.

The only thing she could see from her position that was not short hard grass was the rock that put her in her current painful state. Turning off the Toolkit, she dialed in a second setting, aiming in the direction of the rock she activated the tool again. After a couple of seconds the rock began to glow blackening the grass in contact with it. It emitted a warmth that was a salve to her aching body. She turned her attention to her TVM, the power was drained. She knew that it could be recharged by cosmic energy, all she could do is wait for enough of the hyper active particles to hit and charge it.


	9. Chapter 9

Temporal Location: 5036.266 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Sigma 14-4 Unnamed

The air around Autumn began to brighten, the aura coalesced into a hard ball of intense light then elongated into a bright helix. The helix moved over the prone body probing, testing, examining. It paused a moment on her forehead, teasing out emotion feeling and memory, as Autumn moved in her sleep pushed into dream and memory by the probe. It continued in it's exploration, winding and pulsing around her wrist examining the TVM, deducing the purpose and design of the machine. Moving along her body it paused on her abdomen, something was wrong here; the light penetrated her suit and entered her body.

The life forms within her were foreign to the design of the woman, the microscopic tendrils that were breaking down cellular membranes devouring the flesh from within. The light entered each spore in turn, manipulating each entities' core at a DNA level, making them compatible with the host body. Moving each to a safe place within the anatomy of the host. Satisfied with the help she rendered to the unconscious being, the light raised above Autumn and dissipated into the night. Autumn relaxed as the first rays of morning touched the horizon.

Temporal Location: 5036.270 Physical Location: Galaxy 718 Delta Sigma 14-4 Unnamed

Autumn had been on this planet for three days, she had found a source of water but there was no food to be found, the coarse grass was inedible and there were no higher life forms on which to predate; the world was too young for that. She pushed her hunger to the back of her mind and did the same as she did every morning, checking her TVM to see if it had recharged. This morning was different, she felt nausea and had stomach cramps. The time device registered 80% power. The woman decided to give it a try, entering the coordinates for Demon's Run she activated the device, it did not accept the command. Thinking about it for a few seconds she wondered what she would have done, offsetting the time parameter by 100 years she tried it again. Advancing a century at a time, on the eighth try she jumped.

Temporal Location: 5936.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

She materialized back in the elevator she had left 900 years ago. The doors were closed. Checking the time vortex manipulator, she saw the charge had dropped to 42%, however the flashing of the power bar indicated the device was charging at a higher rate on this planetoid. She needed a place that was safe for a while, she pressed the button marked 7.


	10. Chapter 10

Temporal Location: 5936.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

The elevator opened to the catacombs below the temple, as before the skulls turned in curiosity to "see" who was breaking their solitude. These heads were the oldest in the complex so she needed to move into the depths of the necropolis, she scanned the immediate area with her sonic tool, comparing it with her earlier scan, finding the anomalies indicating new areas. Moving silently in that direction, Autumn visually scanned the shelving, observing that they were showing less and less damage indicating she was moving in the right direction.

As she moved into the mausoleum something else was drawing her onward, a feeling, a delicate touch on her mind, almost imperceptible tug first left, then right. She gave herself into it, it led her to a box, an old box with metal binding, hundreds of years old. She was compelled to open it, the head inside seemed to have grown since being placed inside. The mental touch was stronger, the head slowly opened its eyes and opened it's mouth, it appeared to speak but no sound emitted from it. "Autumn Song, I need your help." The voice resonated in her head, "Take me home."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I was called 'the face of Boe'," he cryptically replied. The heads around them, followed the exchange, turning from one to the other as they spoke, all except one shelf of heads that remained still. She moved towards them to get a better look, shocked, she recognized the dead face repeated in various stages of decay along the shelf, it was Jack.

"We must leave, now." She Just stood there looking at the dead immortal's severed heads. "NOW!" She jumped, "Please, Amelia, we need to go now. They will be here soon." Spurred into activity, she entered the coordinates in her mind. Grasping the box holding Boe, she activated the device.

Temporal Location: 4930.002 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Proxima Centauri-7 "New Earth"

The medical facility was known throughout the quadrant as the best, the sisters of the infinite schism gave the best care in the known galaxy. She materialized in the lobby, immediately attended by a nurse, she surrendered the box to her. "Thank you, Autumn. Please take care, do not be caught in the Shade. Your future should be bright." The nurse whisked him away, she was left alone echoes receding into the distance.

She felt the anger rise as The Face of Boe left. She had to do something, ideas swirled in her head, these scattered thoughts coalesced into a single mission. She did a few mental calculations anad entered a new destination into her TVM, hitting the activation button she vanished.

Temporal Location: 5036.245 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

Icarus, stationary high orbit, nobody noticed as Autumn materialized on deck -2. She was making her way towards the forward artillery bay when something dawned on her, she made a detour to one of the empty mess halls.

She was shopping for a uniform, quickly changing she took her ID from her holster and pinned it to the uniform, quickly washing her face she checked her TVM to check the local time, she only had a few minutes, picking up the pace she headed for the teleport section. "Wait"...

She delivered the message for her younger self, leaving the section she made her way, again, into the artillery bay. She found the type of explosive she needed, entered coordinates and left the ship.

Temporal Location: 5936.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani-3-2 "Demon's Run"

Autumn appeared on the outskirts of the bazaar, holding a large conical package, she entered the doorway of a single storey shack. Once out of sight, she took the burlap from the nuclear warhead and turned it over; emptying her pockets she began to construct a new detonation system. At no point in the operation did she wonder why Earth had a supply of planet-killer warheads in their possession.

An hour later, the planetoid split, sending shards of rock in a myriad of different trajectories; some caught in the gravity well of the planet, others into deep space. All that remained; dust, small rocks and crystals of liquids suddenly exposed to the cold of space began to create a halo around the third planet of the Eridani system.


	11. Chapter 11

Temporal Location: 2015.041 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

Toronto, Ontario. Five months after she destroyed Demons Run, a very pregnant Autumn Song navigated the crowded streets making her way home, or what she currently called home. She had to get away and decompress, until now she seemed to spend her entire life fighting and running, first with her mother then with her short time at UNIT. Although the triplets inside her was a surprise, she loved being pregnant, everyone was so polite and helpful, the constant checkups and routine numbed her anxiety and best of all, anonymity.

The door of the elevator closed, cocooning her in a steel box which dragged her to the floor her apartment was located, she entered her apartment, closed the door and sighed.

Temporal Location: 5946.265 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Delta Eridani system

Floating in the debris clusters orbiting the orange sun, Delta Eridani, 480 million Kilometres from it's corona, the temple of the Order of the Headless illuminated the dark-side of nearby asteroids. Deep within the Temple, the papal mainframe formed an edict, Sent out over space and time, to locate the heretic that defiled the temple; find and return to the order for trial. Silence, shade and third orders; all began the search, all had a description, a description and name. Autumn Song.

Temporal Location: ? Physical Location: ?

Past, present and future were in turmoil; The universe turned as it always had, but the life force was in flux, she looked for the nexus, the one event that sparked the spiralling timelines. The closer she got to the epicentre; the recognizable aura came into focus, the girl she had helped, four lifeforms ended. That was the event, the seed of chaos. There was a correction; she could bring order back, but it came at a cost, she saw the web of time and space normalize as she read this reality.

Temporal Location: 2015.166 Physical Location: Galaxy 744 Sol-3 "Earth"

Autumn made her way to the Hospital, it was time. The babies were coming. Time stopped. She was aware of it, immobile and helpless. The taxi around her began to reform, taking on a more spherical appearance, before the windows faded out of existence, she saw a dark shape heading towards her, time was halted but this figure was still moving; the last moment before she was shrouded in darkness, she made out the shape of a raven, light dancing over it's black wings.

She could move again; a dim orange light with no physical source flooded her surroundings, she was inside a sphere, approximately 8 meters in diameter, the seat from the cab was still under her. Autumn stood, with difficulty, she wanted to examine her new environment. She walked to the wall, what she thought was a sphere was actually lots of contoured circles, the room was still forming, the floor flattened out; her seat was re-forming, changing shape and colour, it became a sort of control panel. Moving back to it, she saw it was a console; a larger more comprehensive version of her Time Vortex Manipulator.

The raven sat atop the large gold egg-shaped object sending out a cry; it took to the air as the orb faded from view.

Temporal Location: ? Physical Location: ?

Autumn doubled over in pain, the contraction was intense; according to the readouts on the display panel on the console told her they were now 3 minutes apart. A low hum, that began five minutes before, subsided. Silence. As the waves of pain settled back into a dull ache, the display changed. The location read Gallefrey.


	12. Chapter 12

Temporal Location: 456.111 -1002 Physical Location: Galaxy 740 "Gallefrey"

According to the readouts; this was an astrophysical anomaly. This planet was the centre of it's system and the three suns orbited both it and each other. She watched the hypnotic dance of this planetary system on the monitor not noticing the illumination around her had dimmed. Her attention was drawn to the three lines on the wall, two blue, one orange; the Gallefreyan suns. As the door opened, the light from the three suns gave the planet a dreamlike quality. She left her room and stood in the middle of a small village.

A woman, a humanoid woman, came slowly towards her holding out her hand, glancing from her to the orb. Autumn moved forward to meet her. At that moment, another contraction took her; her pants began to get wet, her waters had broke.

The midwife had been summoned and she was now laying on a rough bed; one healthy son being tended by a village woman, another crowning A stabbing pain, over and above the bitter sweet pain of birth. The midwife looked worried, she whispered to another unseen woman; "Too much blood."

As the child slid from her body, she could feel no pain, blood pulsing ever slower as her heartbeat slowed; she opened her eyes and was looking at her clenched fists. All her visible skin had an orange hue, of a different quality than the sunlight, it almost seemed like she was beginning to glow. The village women backed away from her, two of them clutching her children to their breasts.

Then the scene changed and she was back in the room.

The surprised women were left alone as Autumn was swallowed by the orb as it appeared where she lay then disappeared.

Temporal Location: ? Physical Location: ?

The throws of the full regeneration took her. At some point in the process, the pain doubled, she didn't think it was possible. At the same point in the process, her daughter was ejected from her body experiencing a regeneration of her own. The light subsided, the pain left her, then a different pain took over; memories flooded in, but not hers. These memories were her mother's, all of them. From the torment on her daughter's face, she knew she was going through the same process.

Her recovery was quicker than she could have imagined, she felt stronger, her senses were more acute, her two hearts were beating out of her chest; Two hearts? Her new memory taught her she had been regenerated as a timelord! She moved to the prone figure of her daughter, who now looked about 13 years old, Autumn placed a hand on her chest, she too had two hearts. She had memories of before, memories of her father, confused about his appearance though. Her father, she knew they were all her father, all thirteen faces. She remembered him, picking the oldest face she searched her memory, looking for clues of where and more accurately when he was.

Her daughter's eyes flickered, then opened, "Mother." They both smiled at each other.

"Daughter! I don't know what to call you, you need a name."

"Silly. I already have one." Autumn was surprised, then she looked at her daughter and searched her memory; She laughed, "You're right, you do have a name. Hello, Susan Foreman."

Temporal Location: 1958.006 Physical Location: Galaxy 740 "Gallefrey"

She did not lay a course, the ship just knew where she needed to be. The doors opened to a small house in the middle of open fields. Working in the garden was an old man with long white hair. She walked up to the gate through the wattle fence around the property and laid a hand on the latch. "What do you want? Did they send you?" He took an aggressive stance holding the tool he was using.

"Nobody sent me, I just want to talk." she raised her hand in a submissive posture; then she thought she must have been a sight to see in an ancient Gallefrey dress splattered with blood. At that time she caught sight of herself reflected in a window of the cottage, but it was someone she did not recognize, she did not have her own face; her hair was still black but that was all that remained of her previous visage. Now she understood. Every time she would go through this process, everything will change.

"Talk? Talk about what?"

"Father, I want to know you." He looked puzzled. Although he no longer seemed aggressive towards her.

They talked until dark, he found her some clothes; He met his Granddaughter, they bonded immediately. She was no longer wrapped in a blanket but wore leather work-pants and a top that was a little too tight for her. She found out he was not the last, but the first incarnation. Then she asked about the raven, he had no knowledge of it, but he knew where he could get the information. He would go to the bureau in the morning. They made up beds for his visitors and retired.

When they got up in the morning they could smell something that resembled coffee and something sweet. Her father had already left. They ate and cleaned up then went for a walk, although there was nothing to see for miles, the exercise did them good. He arrived back home when the largest sun was high in the sky, he bore bad news. He explained what he had found out in the archive, that the creature that came for her was called a Shade, a species of assassins that would never quit, they were relentless and always found their mark. He then asked about her ship, he called it a T.A.R.D.I.S. Although he said he had never seen that type before.

He then made the suggestion that Susan could stay with him and he would protect her while Autumn was dealing with the Shade. A communication device trilled, he answered. After a few minutes, the call ended. "I am under investigation for accessing our Temporal database. We all need to leave the planet, they are coming here now.

"Autumn, it is safer for Susan to go with me. You know where I will be and can visit, time is short."

"I have an idea," she said.

She herded them into her ship and dialed up the previous day. He was fascinated by the simplicity of her systems. He gave her coordinates for materialization and then she activated the drive with a large red button. The hum lasted a few seconds then the doors opened. She said goodbye to her father, then had a tearful farewell with Susan, understanding how her mother felt when she left Torchwood for the last time, then they were gone. She watched them across the hangar to another ship, then the Doctor paused and moved to a second ship before entering.

The Machine made a screeching sound and faded from view.

Watching where they were a moment before she regretted for a moment what she had done. The sound of running made her reenter her ship. "Get me out of here," she thought. The doors closed behind her and the ship left Gallefrey forever.


End file.
